The present invention relates generally to pillows adapted for use in supporting a user's head during sleeping and, more particularly, to sleeping pillows having a capability for deterring or mitigating snoring by a user during sleeping.
For many years, pillows used for sleeping have remained largely unchanged, typically being made of a rectangular textile covering stuffed with natural feathers, a comparable synthetic material, or a rectangular block of a compressible form. Over recent years, by contrast, a considerably greater amount of technological effort has been devoted to the design of specialized materials and configurations for pillows for various purposes ranging from improving comfort to prevention of snoring to the mitigation of facial wrinkling during sleeping. The diversity of pillow constructions known in the state of the art is representatively illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,167,622; 2,898,975; 4,118,813; 4,748,702; 4,850,067; 4,908,893; 5,016,303; 5,054,143; 5,781,947; 5,848,448, 5,920,932; 5,926,880; 6,006,380; 6,513,179; 6,574,809; 6,671,907; 6,915,539; 7,020,919; 7,082,633; 7,100,227; 7,127,759; 7,203,983; 7,213,280; and 7,216,387; and by published U.S. Patent Applications Nos. 2004/0139548; 2006/0260055; 2006/0265808; 2007/0011812.
Of these patents and applications, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,748,702; 4,850,067; 5,920,932; 7,100,227; and 7,127,759; and published U.S. Patent Applications Nos. 2006/0260055 and 2007/0011812, are specifically concerned with the prevention or deterrence of snoring by a user during sleeping.
It is not believed that any of the anti-snoring pillows proposed in the above-identified patents have ever met with any significant degree of commercial success, yet the attention to this problem evidenced by the developmental efforts devoted to these pillow constructions indicates the existence of a recognized desire and need among consumers for a pillow which will effectively mitigate snoring during sleeping.